All Things Fine

Since this is a blog on my Musings ... I don't feel overly constrained to stick purely to plants and container gardens.

Today I'm blatantly plugging a site I've just been turned on to and have had really good experience with.

The site is here. The owner, Paul, offers superb quality items for sale and at excellent prices. His products are not cheap, but they are very good value for the money. I do believe Paul has tried everything he offers for sale himself. I've bought a few things from him and have received excellent service and prompt delivery. Does the man never sleep? And better yet, I am delighted with my purchases.

This site will be of particular interest to Canadians - as he is located in Canada and that takes care of all the nasty import and customs problems we run into when purchasing from the US.

I can personally vouch for the Microplane Graters. After a lifelong search for the perfect Parmesan grater, I can say for sure that this is it.

Here's the one I have.



I also bought the Peugeot salt and pepper mills and can highly recommend them as well. I bought a kitchen scale for myself, but my husband has commandeered it as a postage weigh station for his business. He, too, is happy with my find.

So if you're looking for some great quality items (including, I am told, the best battery chargers on the planet) have a look at Paul's Finest.

Summer Thoughts

Happy March 1st.

As a miserable winter storm blows through Ontario on the first day of March, my thoughts turn to this summer's gardening project. My husband and I have bought a new home in a beautiful little town in Southern Ontario. This summer it looks like I'll have more space than our deck offered last year.

We have, in my opinion, a perfect sized lot with some great mature trees and lots of potential. The house is over 85 years old and there is a distinct possibility that some of the shrubs are approaching that age too.

I invite you to follow along as I (slowly) plan and execute a remodeling of the yard. And indeed, it might be very slowly this first summer, since we are remodeling the inside of the house too.

My nephew, Tyler, a landscaper himself, has volunteered to help me with the design and maybe even the execution of our plan. So this promises to be fun on two fronts: 1) gardening is always fun; and 2) I'll get to work on a project with my favourite nephew!

I have promised myself that this time I will follow the pro's recommendations, take my time and do this right ... with lots of thought and planning. There will be no mad rush to the garden centre buying interesting looking plants on a whim. We will approach this garden with discipline. No really, I promise.

The first step is to get to know your garden space to understand how the sun hits it, what it looks like and particularly what it looks like in all seasons. Here are some photos of the yard under a blanket of snow.

The Front (the porch faces east):




The Side (facing north):



The Other Side(facing south): Please note the beautiful trellis nailed to the house for support! And under that snow is a poured concrete walk that needs help.



The back of the house - we get some fantastic afternoon sun here.



Finally, here are some shots of the view we will have from our living room and front porch. We can enjoy these views with no work at all.